Adara the Lombax
by Cortana Hansen
Summary: (Cover by Babywarrior5)- Adara wakes up in the universe of Ratchet and Clank with no idea as to how she arrived, let alone if any of what's happening to her is real or just her imagination. As she fights to survive in her new reality, she starts to question... who is she really?
1. Prologue

**As I stated in the summary, the cover image is by Babywarrior5! :) I'd can't thank Lily and Babywarrior5 enough for this amazing gift. The detail is spectacular, the colours vivid, and the art style beautiful! You, Babywarrior5, totally blow me away at art. I'm pretty good, but you are beyond awesome. :D**

**So, as I said in _Ratchet and Clank Legends: Race the Clock,_ I'm revamping Adara's personality. She's going to behave more realistically (hopefully) in this story than she did in _Ratchet and Clank Tenebris: Shadow of Ephemeris._ Now... without further ado...**

**I present to you _Adara the Lombax!_**

. . .

_"Disengaging primary cryofeed."_

"Nrrgh... turn off the lights, wouldja...?" I blearily open my eyes, my vision blurry. I'm feeling rather disoriented at the moment, which isn't unusual in the mornings, so I'm not alarmed at first. Then I notice something.

There's something attached to my feet. Lemon number one.

Then I notice something else.

My whole body feels really weird, especially my head, and I don't know why. Lemon number two.

My vision clears and I see I'm hanging upside down above a metal platform that has to be five feet below me at least. "S***! What the h-"

"Little help here! Someone?" a voice calls. "I think my thing is broken!" I turn my head to see the source... Captain Qwark? What in the name of- what in God's holy name is going on here?!

"Who- who are you?! Answer me!" I snarl. Qwark turns his head (albeit awkwardly, for... multiple reasons) looks at me and an expression of surprise comes over his face.

"Another Lombax?!"

I see Ratchet and Clank both staring at me, the shock clearly visible on their faces. I highly doubt their astonishment comes anywhere close to mine...

I mean, I'm a frickin' Lombax?! How is that possible?! This doesn't... what... how?! I don't understand what's going on! That's when I really start to lose it. "Get me down from here! NOW! SOMEBODY!... stop it and calm down... calm down, this is just some really freaky nightmare... everything's gonna be just fine... or I had a... a relapse with my... my..." And then I just start crying hysterically.

So much for first impressions.

"Lady, just calm down, okay?" Ratchet says. "We're gonna get down from here. Just sit tight. Qwark, could you, uh, slap Nefarious out of it?"

"This isn't real, this isn't real..." I tell myself. At least, I seriously hope it isn't.

"You TWIT!" I hear Nefarious' voice shriek. Shouldn't he be dead? "You dare lay your squishy hands on me?! When I get- WOULD WHOEVER'S CRYING SHUT UP SO I CAN MAKE A DECENT THREAT?!"

"HOW ABOUT THIS?!" I yell back, angry now. "YOU CAN TAKE YOUR BLOODY THREAT AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR-!"

"'Scuse me," a child's voice calls from below. "Whatcha doin' up there?"

I look down and see a young alien girl looking up at us. "Just... just get us down already!"

The little girl proudly salutes, replying, "Aye aye, Lombax!" She uses... whatever that gadget in her hands is to pull a switch, and then we find ourselves falling to the floor. I slam hard on my side, no doubt getting heavily bruised in the process.

"Nggh..." I stand up wobbly, though the others are already on their feet. I look at them and say, "Now that that's been done... I'm going back to the real world. Bye bye." I turn around and I'm about to jump off the platform in the hopes that might end this hallucination or whatever when a large gloved hand picks me up from behind. "What in the- YOU PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW OR I'M GONNA RIP YOUR-!"

"That's no way to thank a Mega-Hero!" Qwark says, still holding me by my sweater. He turns his hand so I'm facing him. I growl, and punch him in the face. "OW! My nose!" He drops me and I bolt across the bridge to the nearest door. It doesn't open and I slam my fists against it. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Nothing happens and I turn around, my back flat against the door. I look at Ratchet and the others, who are staring at me as though I've gone mad.

Which I had to have... there's no way this can actually be happening.

"You..." I try to gather my thoughts as I speak. "... you _stay_ away from me... whatever you are..."

Ratchet approaches me slowly. "Look, I get it. Waking up in a strange place with no idea how you got there- believe me, it's not pleasant. But we have to stay calm if we're gonna get outta here. All of us. What's your name?"

I'm not sure how I manage to respond, but I do. "Adara... I'm Adara Laufeyson..."

"Okay, Adara." Ratchet pulls me away from the door gently. "Come on. You're gonna be okay Adara. You got that, right?"

I nod after a moment, tears still streaming from my eyes. But I'm more in control now. "I... I guess so..."

"Head through the sector seven air vent and we'll rendezvous on the south side!" the girl tells us as she pushes a button on a console. A holographic bridge appears, leading to another door. "A galactic scout never leaves before her mission is complete!"

"Er... how do we know which vent is which?"

"We'll figure it out as we go along," Ratchet tells me as Clank jumps onto his back. "Come on, we don't have a lotta time."

"What are we, playing 'follow the leader?'" Nefarious shrieks.

"Nefarious," I speak after a moment.

"Yeah?" The robot turns to me expectantly. "What'ya want, squishy?"

"I want you to _shut up_ until this whole bloody thing is over." Then I follow Ratchet across the bridge, trying to keep my cool. If I let this get to me, it may just worsen my... _condition_ further.

_Mom... Luki... even if I can never get out of here..._

_... even if I never wake up from whatever this is..._

_... I hope you know that I love you guys._

. . .

**Don't worry, next chapter, there's definitely gonna be action. I just wanted to set things up first. Anyway, I'd like to clarify several things:**

**1\. Yes, Adara's surname has been changed as well, for multiple reasons I won't explain right now.**

**2\. No, I did not mistype- "Luki" is actually an alternative name for Loki. *cuddles Loki toy and squeals* As to who she's addressing, that my friends, shall be explained later.**

**3\. There's not going to be as much humour in this story as there was for _Ratchet and Clank Tenebris: Shadow of Ephemeris._ There will definitely be humour, both from the game and from me, but I'm adding a bit of a more dark tone to this story. At least, I'm trying to.**

**4\. I might revise this chapter some tomorrow, but any advise you guys might give me would be awesome. I'm more used to writing characters who are often already confident and calm, so I honestly don't know if my writing for this chapter was any good.**


	2. Minion Training Center, Part I

_**Max**** Chronicle: Since you've asked for my opinion on the quality of Adara's panicking... I felt convinced of her plight. So good job once again. Although I've never read Shadow of Ephemeris before so I'm going into this completely blind.**_

_**I don't have much more to say so I'll end this review here. Good luck on not only this rewrite, but all the others you endeavor on. I may not be able to see ALL the improvements you've made but I can tell there's been at least SOME improvements, and that makes me smile. :)**_  
_**Max out.**_

**Reply: Thanks, Max. :) _Shadow of Ephemeris_ is still available for reading, if you want, but you don't really have to read it. I'm trying to start mostly from scratch for this story.**

**Speaking of my other rewrites, the second chapter of _Ratchet and Clank Legends: Race the Clock_ is in the works. It may take a few days before I publish it though, as there are a few kinks I need to work out.**

**Also, to all my readers, I'd like to let you know that while I did include some action later on, it wasn't as much as I hoped, since this chapter ended up being really long. There will be more action in the next chapter, I promise.**

**And be sure to keep an eye out for references to certain movies. :)**

. . .

I follow Ratchet and the others down the metal hall, my mind swirling in confusion. I can't comprehend what's happening. I struggle to breathe, and it's as though my all senses are blurred. I feel as if I'm outside of my own body, watching helplessly...

We reach some kind of circular platform, which turns out to be an elevator. It lowers down a ways, then jerks to a stop, startling me. "W-what's going on now?"

Before anyone can reply, a small robot levitates down from the ceiling and stops when it's directly in front of us. A bright, sky blue cone of light suddenly shoots from the eye-like circle on its "head". The light shines on each one of us, moving back and forth a few times. Then the light shuts off and a female computerised voice says, "Organic lifeforms detected. Reroute to creature pen for probing and experimentation."

"WHAT?!" I shriek. "Oh, god help me... please..." I close my eyes and put my hands on the sides of my head, trying not to lose control. A mental meltdown is just going to make things worse.

"Probing! Whoa whoa, wait!" Ratchet tells the computer, also trying not to panic. "We're not test subjects, we're... erm... new trainees?"

"Very well," the computer replies. "Rerouting to training for gadget certification."

"Wha..." I open my eyes and lower my hands. "I... I can't believe that worked!"

"What was that?" the computer asks.

"Nothing," I quickly say. The elevator starts moving again and within a few moments, we're on another floor.

Ratchet looks back and forth between each end of the hall. "Erm... which way should we go?" he asks.

"Head towards the Sector Six training wing," the computer tells us. "It's straight ahead." Ratchet and the others start heading that way. I linger a bit, staring at my now furry hands. _Not real... not real..._

"You coming or what, squishy?!" Nefarious calls. I bite my lip to keep from making an angry retort and start following. We reach a gap that has two Swingshot targets. I let out a curse at that.

"Is there something wrong, Adara?" Clank asks.

"Yes, _Sherlock,_ there is," I hiss, beginning to lose it already. "There's a lot of things that are wrong, how many would you like me to _name?_ Oh, I know! Number one... I don't have a Swingshot... number two... I don't know how to use a Swingshot in the first place... number _three, _my entire life has been totally uprooted... and number_ four_... and I don't know if I've lost my bloody SANITY, for god's sake!"

"Minion," the computer speaks, "you are exhibiting signs of great emotional distress and anger. I am scheduling you for extensive therapy sessions and anger management class for later today."

"Yeah, well, I- mmf!"

Ratchet claps his hand over my mouth. "Okay, listen to me very carefully, Adara. If we're gonna get outta here, you can't be yelling at everything and everyone around you. We will ALL get across... we will get you a _Hookshot_ at some point... and you AREN'T losing your sanity. You got that?"

He removes his hand from my mouth and I nod after a moment. "Right, right... so how are we getting across?"

"Well, the rest of us have Hookshots already," Ratchet tells me. "And I don't think I can carry you, so... I guess you'll have to go with either Qwark or Nefarious."

"There's no way _I'm_ carrying a stupid _squishy,"_ Nefarious growls.

"There's no way in heck I'd take a ride with you _anyway,"_ I retort. "And don't you have those dumb rockets on your boots? Or feet... whatever."

"I did. But in my last battle with those two _nitwits_ over there, my rockets were damaged!" Nefarious points at Ratchet and Clank as he speaks. "I never bothered to replace them. And you're still not getting a ride!"

Qwark suddenly pushes Nefarious aside and makes a dramatic pose as he says, "Don't worry, Adara! I shall hurl you to safety myself!"

"Wait, no, no, no, Ratchet said- Waaaaaaaaah!" Qwark had grabbed me and threw me across the gap. To say I was astonished that I made it to the other side was an understatement. I land on my side, and after taking a moment to collect myself and lower my adrenaline levels, I stand up wobbly.

Ratchet and Clank are the first to get over to my side after giving Qwark a reprimand. Then Nefarious, then Qwark are next. "Sorry about Qwark," Ratchet says to me. "He can sometimes be a bit _overdramatic."_

"That... is an understatement," I reply, glaring at Qwark for a moment before looking ahead. Then the computer announces that there are _rotten bananas_ in the air purification filter. "And _that_ is disgusting."

The computer then seems to realise we got across the gap. "Excellent work. You will make fine minions." I notice that it seems like Ratchet is listening to something.

"Susie- the girl that freed us- has tuned into our comm," Ratchet whispers to us. "She says she left something at a 'charging station' for us and to head through the lab and equipment room to get there."

"Maybe it's a RYNO," Nefarious suggests gleefully.

"I doubt it's a RYNO," I tell him.

"Well, you can't blame me for hoping."

I shake my head and turn away. I wouldn't put it past my brain to either give us a RYNO like Nefarious is hoping, or to kill us all with one death trap. I follow the others through a room that happens to look like a lab (how convenient!) and then an equipment room. We reach the charging station, and much to my surprise... Susie's surprise isn't a RYNO, nor a death trap.

That I'm aware of.

Qwark plucks a letter off the charging station and says, "Hmm, a letter. And it's written in macaroni! 'Dear Lombax... these Vac-Us will come in handy. Love Susie.'" While Qwark reads, I examine one of the Vac-Us. There are only three here, apparently.

"So? How do we use them?" I ask, already feeling... well, tired. Both mentally and physically. And to top it all off, I'm starving. As if to announce this to the whole world, my stomach growls. Before anyone can comment, there's a scream from Nefarious. I look up to see that... his _butt_ is stuck in Qwark's Vac-U? Admittedly, if it weren't for my situation... if I was playing a Ratchet and Clank game like this, then I would probably roll off the couch laughing.

"Let me go, you halfwit!" Nefarious shrieks.

"I'm trying!" Qwark says, pressing a button on the Vac-U. "Maybe if I just-"

Nefarious is launched through the air like a rocket and crashes into a stack of crates. I wince sympathetically. The mechanical doctor crawls out of the stack, calling Qwark some names when Clank intervenes.

"Please, we must all stay calm. We are going to have to work together if we are to find out where we are and how to get home."

Then Qwark starts talking about drama and whatnot, and I tune them all out for the moment, studying my Vac-U some more. Maybe if don't pay attention to them, this hallucination will end. It doesn't work. "Adara, are you coming?" Clank asks.

"Hmm?" I look up from my Vac-U. "Oh, yeah, sure."

I follow the others out of the room, pulling the strap attached to the Vac-U over my body, so my hands are once again free.

"Attention, minions. You have not been certified for Vac-U operation. Initiating tutorial alpha-two-four. Please step onto the teleporter pad to be transported to Training Sector Eight-Nine-Two-Five-Beta."

I sigh tiredly, wondering if this was _ever_ going to end.

. . .

"Objective complete. Well done minions," the computer congratulates. "Your training is now complete. Gold stars for everyone."

"Does that mean I'll get your vote in the next Presidential election?" Qwark asks.

"No," the computer replies, sounding slightly confused.

"Since when was Qwark a politician?" I look at Ratchet in puzzlement. "Never mind... I don't want to know." We all step on a circular platform, which starts to move across a metal rail.

"Congratulations on completing your training," the computer says. "You will now be transported to Sector Twelve for celebratory probing."

Naturally, that's not well received.

"WHAT?! I am Doctor Nefarious! I ORDER YOU TO NOT PROBE ME!"

"This isn't real... it's not real..."

"Wait wait, I thought I said we weren't test subjects!"

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

I feel my adrenaline levels quadrupling, my breath becoming short, my body trembling. That's when I hear a familiar squeaky voice call, "Don't worry! A galactic scout never leaves her allies behind!" I spot Susie on a nearby platform. She's pushing a big metal lever, which after a second, gives way. The platform we're standing on jerks to a stop a few feet away.

"We're gonna have to jump!" Ratchet makes the leap first, then Qwark, then Nefarious. I hesitate, not wanting to end up a splatter or something, considering how high up we are. Then I remember that none of this can be real, and that if I "die," maybe this will end. I take a deep breath and I run and jump. I'm a few inches short of the platform and for a half-second I feel hope. Then suddenly a clawed hand grabs me by the wrist and pulls me up to safety.

"You- you a-hole!" I shove Nefarious in anger a few feet backwards, nearly sending him tumbling off the edge.

Nefarious glares at me offended by what I just did. "I just saved your life, squishy, and I don't even get so much as a 'thank you!'"

"Well, maybe I didn't _want_ to be 'saved,'" I snarl, turning away from him.

Before anyone could say anything, the computer announces, "Intruder alert! Intruder alert! All units converge on the minions in Sector Three!"

"We gotta move!" Susie opens the door ahead of us.

And up ahead, there's a group of some angry looking little robots. I start backing away, before Ratchet grabs my hand and shoves a Combuster in it. "You know how to use one of these, right?"

"No!" I snap. "Do I look like a fight bad guys for a living?!"

"Well, guess what, you do now," Ratchet tells me, ignoring my outburst for the moment. Both Qwark and Nefarious have taken out some of the robots by now. While Ratchet starts whacking a few with his wrench, I clumsily take aim with the Combuster and fire at the nearest robot. I miss and the blast almost hits Qwark.

"Hey, watch it!" Qwark calls. "You could have killed me!"

I ignore him, running away from the robot now, as I had drawn its attention with my terrible shooting. I duck behind a stack of crates, which wasn't the best idea, as the robot smashes through and levitates there a moment, glaring at me. "Hehe..." I say nervously. "Uh, see any good holo-films lately?"

The robot charges towards me, and I scramble away, dodging its small, but most deadly spinning blades. I suddenly find myself trapped in a corner, with nowhere to run. I whirl around, heart pounding, pointing my Combuster at the robot. It slows its pursuit, and I see an evil glint in its eyes.

It's _enjoying_ this. I close my eyes and pull the trigger. I hear the roar of fire from the resulting explosion and I feel the near searing heat. I open my eyes and I see a smoking pile of parts where the robot was a few seconds ago. I see Ratchet and the other walking towards me, evidently having taken care of the remaining robots.

"You okay, Adara?" Ratchet asks.

After a moment, I shakily reply, "Yeah..."

"That was awesome!" Susie exclaims. She looks at Ratchet and continues, "I'll use the computer in here to hack into the security system. Then I can open all the doors for you."

"What about you?" Ratchet asks.

"Don't worry, I have a plan," Susie tells him as she heads over to to the computer she was talking about. "Just be careful, okay?"

Ratchet nods. "Okay. You too." We head over to the next door, which opens. And on the other side waiting for us is another horde of robots. "You guys ready?"

"Yes!" Qwark immediately replies.

"No," Nefarious and I reply at the same time.

"Too bad!"

Ratchet charges in first, brandishing his wrench.

_Do you know what you are? Do you? __Or are you as blind to the truth as your _mother_ was?_

_You are the monster that parents tell their children about at night._

_You are the monster that hides in the closet, waiting to pounce._

_I promise you..._

_You will learn what you are. And then _nothing_ will stop me from my conquest._


End file.
